About Us

CSUPERB’s mission is to develop a professional biotechnology workforce through collaborative CSU student and faculty research, innovative educational practices and partnerships with the life science industry.

CSUPERB provides seed grant funding, organizes an annual biotechnology symposium, supports biotechnology-relevant curriculum redesign efforts and serves as a liaison for the CSU with government, philanthropic, educational and biotechnology industry partners. The program involves students and faculty from the departments of life, physical, computer and clinical science, engineering, agriculture, math and business at all 23 CSU campuses.

CSUPERB’s Principles

Biotechnology education requires the integration of disciplinary knowledge, hands-on practice, and team-based projects. These experiences effectively engage and retain students who are the first in their families to attend college or are from communities underrepresented in the life sciences.
All students can build a solid foundation for successful life science careers by working on solutions for real-world problems with CSU faculty teacher-scholars in the classroom and on collaborative research teams.
Partnerships with industry professionals, alumni and biotechnology organizations support the ever-evolving life sciences industry and California's regional economies.
The CSU plays a critical role in California’s biotechnology ecosystem. It educates its professional workforce and innovates technologies that drive the growth and evolution of the industry.

Our Team & Collaborators

Presidents' Commission

President Sorya Coley, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
President Adela de la Torre, San Diego State University
President Gayle E. Hutchinson, California State University, Chico (Chair)
President Tom Jackson, Jr., Humboldt State University
President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, California State University, Fresno
President Robert S. Nelsen, Sacramento State University

Program Office Staff

Ikhide Imumorin, Ph.D., Executive Director, (619) 594-2510,
Pam Branger, Administrative Support Coordinator, (619) 594-2822
Tyson Gadd, Administrative Analyst, (619) 594-3954
R. Christine Montgomery, Student Program Specialist, (619) 594-1203
James Schmitt, Program Administrator, (619) 594-5299

Strategic Planning Council

Term Ending	SPC Member	Campus
2023	Paula Fischhaber, Deputy Chair Michael Kauffman, Dean Christopher Meyer, Dean Jeffrey Roberts, Dean Aparna Sreenivasan Koni Stone	CSU Northridge San José State University CSU Fresno San Diego State University CSU Monterey Bay CSU Stanislaus
2024	Monica Lounsbery, Dean Bori Mazzag Katherine McReynolds, Chair Miri VanHoven	CSU Long Beach Humboldt State University CSU Sacramento San José State University
2025	Michael Goldman Sastry Pantula, Dean Jackie Trischman, Dean	San Francisco State University CSU San Bernardino CSU San Marcos
2027	Deepali Bhandari Math Cuajungco Matthew Escobar	CSU Long Beach CSU Fullerton CSU San Marcos

Faculty Consensus Group

Campus	Faculty Representative, Department, Year Term Ends (June 30)
CSU Bakersfield	Jesse Bergkamp, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2022) Sarah Forester, Chemistry (2024) Isolde Francis, Biology (2022) Amber Stokes, Biology (2026)
CSU Channel Islands	Ahmed Awad, Chemistry (2025) Alona Kryshenko (2025) Nitika Parmar, Biology (2025) Hugo Tapia, Biology (2025)
Chico State	Kristen Gorman, Biological Sciences (2025) Meghdad (Amin) Hajimorad, Electrical Engineering (2025) David Keller, Biological Sciences (2024) Jinsong Zhang, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025)
CSU Dominguez Hills	Kari Pederson, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Eillen Tecle, Biology (2026) Philip Vieira, Psychology (2025) Fang Wang, Biology (2023)
Cal State East Bay	Marlin Halim, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2023) Ram Kandasamy, Psychology (2026) Juleen Lam, Public Health (2026) Monika Sommerhalter, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025)
Fresno State	Cory Brooks, Chemistry (2024) Jason Bush, Biology (2025) Alejandro Calderon-Urrea, Biology (2024) Jacob Wenger, Plant Science (2024)
Cal State Fullerton	Math Cuajungco, Biological Sciences, (2025) Niroshika Keppetipola, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2023) Nina Robson, Mechanical Engineering (2022) Marcelo Tolmasky, Biological Sciences (2022)
Cal Poly Humboldt	Jenny Cappuccio, Chemistry (2025) Bori Mazzag, Mathematics, (2022) Mark Wilson, Biological Sciences (2022) Jianmin Zhong, Biological Sciences (2023)
Cal State Long Beach	Kamiar Alaei, Health Science (2026) Shadnaz Asgari, Biomedical, Computer Eng. & Computer Science (2024) Deepali Bhandari, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Amanda Fisher, Biological Sciences (2023)
Cal State Los Angeles	Mathias Brieu, Mechanical Engineering (2025) Michael Hayes, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2023) Hyunsook Park, Biological Sciences (2022) Xin Wen, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2024)
Cal Maritime	Tomas Oppenheim, Mechanical Engineering (2023) Alex Parker, Science & Mathematics (2023) Julie Simons, Science & Mathematics (2023)
CSU Monterey Bay	Nathaniel Jue, Biology (2024) Ryan Luke, Kinesiology (2022) Aparna Sreenivasan, Biology (2025)
CSU Northridge	Karin Crowhurst, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Paula Fischhaber, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2026) Melissa Takahashi, Biology (2023) John Valdovinos, Electrical & Computer Engineering (2023)
Cal Poly Pomona	Hyungchul Han, Animal & Veterinary Sciences (2026) Kathryn McCulloch, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Vilupanur Ravi, Chemical & Materials Engineering (2024) Jamie Snyder, Biological Sciences (2024)
Sacramento State	Matthew Brown, Kinesiology & Health Science (2023) Robert Crawford, Biological Sciences (2025) Katherine McReynolds, Chemistry (2025) Kimberly Mulligan, Biological Sciences (2025)
Cal State San Bernardino	Jason Burke, Chemistry (2023) Jeremy Dodsworth, Biology (2023) Jeremy Mallari, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2025) Daniel Nickerson, Biology (2025)
San Diego State	Shawn O'Connor, Exercise & Nutritional Sciences (2023) Byron Purse, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2023) Mahasweta Sarkar, Electrical & Computer Engineering (2023) Manal Swairjo, Biochemistry (2025)
San Francisco State	Lily Chen, Biology (2022) George Gassner, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2022) Michael Goldman, Biology (2025) Weiming Wu, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2024)
San José State	Daryl Eggers, Chemistry (2023) Folarin Erogbogbo, Biomedical, Chemical & Materials Engineering (2024) Kasuen Mauldin, Nutrition, Food Science & Pkg (2022) Elizabeth Skovran, Biological Sciences (2026)
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	Jean Davidson, Biological Sciences (2025) Christopher Heylman, Biomedical Engineering (2023) Rodrigo Manjarin, Animal Science (2025) Steven Wilkinson, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2024)
CSU San Marcos	Matthew Escobar, Biology (2023) Robert Iafe, Chemistry & Biochemistry (2024) Darcy Taniguchi, Biological Sciences (2026) Yuanyuan Jiang, Computer Sci. & Information Systems (2025)
Sonoma State	Farid Farahmand, Engineering (2023) Monica Lares, Chemistry (2025) Omayra Ortega, Mathematics (2023) Sean Place, Biology, (2024)
Stanislaus State	Elvin Aleman, Chemistry (2025) Koni Stone, Chemistry (2025) Tricia Van Laar, Biological Sciences (2026) Janey Youngblom, Biological Sciences (2024)